By Thy Sword
by Tsubasa K. Kruger
Summary: Of the most painful episodes in the lives of five vampire cousins, and how they affected the conflict with the lycans. It isn't easy to be born of the Imperial House, but this generation had it worse than usual. From the eldest to the youngest, each will have to learn to live with the pain... even if a perpetually stubborn trio refuses to acknowledge it. /AU, NOT lemon, OoC
1. Prologue: About the Vampire Race

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Akuma no Riddle. All OCs are of my creation, as well as the outlinings of this alternate universe. **

**WARNINGS: MILD violence and more-or-less incest. REFERENCES to slavery and various forms of abuse (this, more or less a given in every AnR universe. Hopefully nothing worse than the main series).**

**Preliminary notes: ****For the sake of the plot, the ages and backgrounds of just about every AnR character were altered or outright dismissed to fit them into their given roles. For the same reason, many things here will be out of character to a degree that some characters may or may not seem to be the original's total opposite. There are five main characters, and each story ****will be largely independant from the others', outside of some reference that will probably be easy to understand either way.**

**That said, I'm currently in the middle of exams time, so updates might be slow at first.  
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><p><strong><em>Beneath the Mightiest Phoenix they gather, the Four of greatest power, loyalty unshattered. Today, tomorrow and forever they stand together, for blood is thicker than love, and pain only strenghtens those of the Greatest Four.<em>**

**_Come and let me relate, sit and hear, why the House of the Phoenix rules over thee._**

Prologue: About the Vampire Race

They say that everything is stronger by union. This might very well be the reason why our people has lived for so long, standing together against all storms that Fate has decreed we must face.

The ties amongst our people's enemies were weak, they scattered, and you can see the results of that in their population: those who aren't dead, are standing with our people as if they were of our kin.

We are all stronger by union. But it wasn't always like that (and maybe it is better that way, as it makes our history more glorious than if we had been always like we are now. There is a certain beauty in struggle).

It took thousands of years for our people to develop to what it is now, and maybe our current glory can be attributed to our enemies as much as we can thank the four dynasties that have ruled the Empire since the unification. Our people standing together as one is, after all, a basic reaction of cause and effect triggered by our enemies' needless violence against our ancestors.

Because, we weren't always a militarized society, you know?

You doubt my words, I can see it, but I don't blame you. After all, we vampires are the race that needs blood to survive, carry ten kinds of poison since birth to beyond death and whose eyes can show the very pits of Hell.

But let me tell you about how we came to be, why the Empire is more glorious than any human nation, why we all bow to the Mightiest Phoenix regardless of our parentage.

Let me tell you the story of five children of the Imperial House. Worry not, for these five cousins played a big part in the final leap our people took to be what it is now. Each and every one of their stories carry a meaning greater than their own selves, a meaning no one could see until all was said and done.

Before you can understand their stories, though, maybe you need to be reminded of the glory of our people before the fourth dynasty began.

The vampire race, the first to appear in this world, was once divided in hundreds of nomad families, which slowly started settling together and forming clans. Believe it or not, the race as a whole was actually quite peaceful those days, something that seems obvious if you think about it. After all, there was no one to fight for the dominance that came to rest so naturally on them.

Then the lycans happened.

As with each of the three races that matter the most for this story, no one really knows how or when they really appeared, but they were a fairly unremarkable race and the vampires minded them just as much as they minded your everyday animal. But then the lycans killed a vampire clan to take over their territory in lands that today belong to the human territory of Nepal, which motivated the rest of them to unite under the wise Li clan to avenge the fallen and prevent future attacks.

This started the vampire race's fame and thirst for violence.

The first war ended in the Pact of Himalaya, with the defeated lycans being cornered in a land the vampires had yet to populate, both promising not to attack the other and stay in their respective land, and the lands that caused the dispute were returned to the last survivor of the dead clan. After the war, Li Zhu, head of his clan, was given control of all the vampire lands by the clan heads themselves, and the vampires thus formed an empire, with Zhu the Sage as the first ruler of the first dynasty.

A consequence of the war that would become very important for the vampires was the hierarchy, expressed in the House system. Many marriage alliances between powerful clans ensued because of the war, mainly result of clan heads uniting to strenghten their military prowess, but as clans were awfully proud there was no way one would submit itself to the other, especially if both were outsanding in the war and equally important to the new Emperor. Thus, the Houses were born: nucleus of two powerful clans at first, with others joining in following times, all of them bound together by blood, marriage and power. Beneath the clans belonging to Houses stood the common clans, those who weren't part of a house. Each clan had its own lot of families, all of which stood lower than common clans, with those of houses being more important than those who weren't, and the families that did not belong to any clan standing the lowest of them all. And so, the Council of Houses was created to assist the Emperor, and the Clan Council to enact the Emperor's orders.

This system would exist for many millenia to come, still strong without foreseeable ending, one of the most important bases of our society.

When the humans (race of less consequence than the lycans, and probably descended from them) started growing in number, they were given lands by Emperor Octavius III of the second dynasty under condition that they would leave the vampires alone and dispose of any lycan declared enemy of the empire they came across, which started the first purge and led to the Second Vampire-Lycan war.

From then on, the frontiers were moved back and forth, with the elegant vampires slowly losing ground to the naturally violent race. Their population dwindled until they started training each and every vampire to be a warrior since young age; with a better preparation and a militarized society, they gained strength and took back everything they'd lost.

If you think about it, it is entirely possible that the first war was won only because of the lycans' youth. We almost lost the second, after all, and paid dearly for a victory that came at the prize of the second dynasty.

The Fourth Vampire-Lycan war, otherwise called the First Apocalypse, saw the end of the third dynasty, replaced after two months of near anarchy (and difficult times in the war front) by one of the few Houses that held such title since the first war, and whose head had been a close advisor of Emperor Erik IV within the Council of Houses as well as one of his closest friends since their early years. This dynasty forced the empire into recovery, and by sheer brutality won the war in everything but name ten years into the coronation of Empress Tsubaki, the first of the dynasty.

Tsubaki, who had already been old even for a vampire by the time she took the throne, died in 1105 before the war could be properly over, although the lycans were practically defeated already and were making last desperate attempts at keeping firm ground, stubbornly refusing to surrender. She was replaced by her only son, Takahiro of the Bloody Skies, who took a week to mourn his mother before commanding the armies against the last military settlement of the lycans, thus winning the war once and for all.

Of the lycans that couldn't hide in human lands, the adults were killed and children kept to raise as slaves loyal to the vampires, as had been customary since the second war.

Immediately after returning from the final battle, Emperor Takahiro led a purge to get rid of the accommodated, understanding this as all those vampires who felt too high and mighty to dirty their hands working. Most of those were of noble Houses, many of which had members that led armies under the third dynasty's reign (how was that possible, given that some never even were in the front lines, was everyone's guess). The people who actually worked (mainly rightful warriors) and the children were spared. Additionally, he gave some of his most trusted comrades's Houses the very deserved status of nobility.

At the same time this brutal vampire began the purge, he ordered an investigation of all servants of the imperial palace, only to avoid such a thing as the betrayal that killed the third dynasty happening again. And good thing he did that, too, as there were traitors amongst them, some working really close to the family. One of them the woman who would have been his son's maid – he felt special pleasure in killing her slowly, painfully, when her true loyalties were uncovered. From then on, only the most faithful servants would be allowed near children of the Imperial House.

Crown Prince Takehiko, son of Takahiro of the Bloody Skies, was later killed by a rogue lycan shortly after his fifty-fifth birthday. This led to Emperor Takahiro personally leading another purge against the free lycans, killing several dozens in two days as revenge for his only heir's death.

Takahiro was succeeded by his second child, Karami, who was born well after her brother's death. She dedicated her reign to completely calm things down, both within the Empire and regarding their relations to humans, using ruthless methods that would cause her to be remembered after her death as the Unrelenting.

Karami had twin daughters, Karami and Makoto. While the youngest would never have a relationship worth mentioning, the eldest married Daisuke of Inukai (also a son of the Imperial House) and had two children with him: Hitsugi, second in line to the throne of the vampires, and Tokaku, the third heiress; however, Crown Princess Karami's death at Tokaku's birth moved the succession line forward without need of a new Emperor.

Just beginning the 18th century, some free lycans formed a rebel group with the ambition of eliminating the vampires and freeing their enslaved kin, which was not by far the first attempt but the only one that interests us, both because their role in this story (and thus our history) and their status as the last group that resisted the vampires.

It was only a cruel twist of Fate what made Crown Princess Hitsugi of Azuma meet one of the lycans loyal to that movement and fall head over heels in love.


	2. The Azuma Clan: part I

**Disclaimer: I don't own Akuma no Riddle. This universe and all characters not found in the original series are mine.**

[_Lyrics_]** taken from chirigirl13 on tumblr.**

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><p><em><strong>Of Tokaku's birth, Hitsugi's oath and a fated meeting.<strong>_

The Azuma Clan: part I

Hitsugi of Azuma was just about one hundred and twenty years when she was first faced with the ugly truth of life. Being a child member of the vampire royalty in times of peace and prosperity, no one she knew had crossed paths with the Shinigami. But when her mother, Crown Princess Karami, gave birth to the little sister she'd been impatiently waiting for with her childlike innocence, death stepped into the imperial palace for the first time in her short life.

Hearing from her father about her mother's delicate health broke the girl's heart, and she could only look at her feet tearfully as he quietly led her into the room where Karami had given birth. She was in bed, still sweaty and pale, but she had a calm expression as she looked at the quiet bundle in her arms. She raised her gaze to see her husband and firstborn at the door, and called for the soon to be Crown Princess in a soft voice.

Hitsugi felt torn as she climbed into bed and scooted closer, not noticing as her father left the room. On one hand, she desperately wanted her mother to be well and was already starting to feel some sort of resentment against her little sister. On the other, she knew it wasn't her sister's fault that their mother was dying.

But then Karami shuffled the bundle in her arms so that she could see, and all her inner conflict was smashed to pieces.

"Meet your sister, Hitsugi" she said softly. "Her name is Tokaku."

That was the name her grandmother had wanted for the baby, she realized. The old habit of their house of names having a K somewhere showed glaringly, and had this been another situation she would've wondered (not for the first time) what had happened with her and the few relatives whose names didn't display the letter.

The baby yawned and brought her tiny fists up, her eyes fluttering open and revealing themselves to be the same striking blue as their mother's. And even minutes after being born, the small tuft of hair on top of her head was hinting itself to be also blue. Her skin was already pale, and it would surely stay as smooth as it was now – she was, after all, a princess. Hitsugi unconsciously reached closer, and was startled as her sister's tiny fists closed around her index finger in a grip that was somehow too strong for a newborn (although, it was possibly only her feeling weak).

"Hitsugi" called Karami, shaking the girl out of her musing.

"Yes, mother?"

"Take care of her" her expression darkened. "The imperial family is always at risk, remember that. I want you to promise me that you won't let anyone, and especially not one of those filthy lycan rebels, _ever_ touch her."

Hitsugi's golden eyes, trait common in the Inukai and Kirigaya families her father was son of, returned to the sleepily curious form of her sister, who seemed marveled with her finger.

Karami hadn't needed to ask. Hitsugi had already mentally promised her sister that she would look out for her, as a proper older sister should. She did so anyways, only to receive the baby from her mother's arms and a warm glance from the blue eyes she so much loved.

"Thank you... Hitsugi."

With that, she exhaled her last breath, with no one in the room to witness her final moment save her daughters, one of which was much too young to realize what was happening but nevertheless started crying as Karami's hand dropped from its place in Hitsugi's shoulder.

Crown Princess Hitsugi could only look down at her crying sister and rock her softly as she mumbled sweet nonsense. There was no place now for her to let out her sorrow.

She had two new duties now, but there was no doubt in her heart and her mind which was the most important to her.

–o–

It was roughly forty years later when she first met the one that would bring forth her doom.

The sun was high up, warm yet not stiffingly so, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The grass was cut short, the bushes perfectly trimmed, the lake's surface shining like a polished diamond, the trees gave a generous shade and it smelled... fresh. All in all, it was a perfect day, and it was even better because the first and second princesses were in the middle of a peaceful picnic.

Tokaku was a calm child, yet one who enjoyed pointy things and especially when she could throw them around (if her target was moving, then all the better), which was not surprising considering she hailed from what was probably the most sanguinary vampire House alive at the time. She loved her sister to death and admired her greatly, soaking up on her words as if she was a sponge and following her around like a loyal puppy with short legs. She was smart, innocent and cute, if quite tomboyish, and the Empire adored her.

Hitsugi had grown up to be a proper young vampire lady, more inclined to the subtle art of poisons than the equally precise of weaponry. She loved her sister to death and doted on her as if there was no tomorrow, and was the kind of young lady who killed first and asked questions later when it came to her sister's safety, always with an eye on her and never leaving her behind. She was smart, sensible and beautiful, every bit as femenine as the younger sister was a tomboy, and the Empire loved her.

Ocassionally, Hitsugi would ask permission from her grandmother to take Tokaku somewhere farther than the gardens of the imperial palace, and many times the answer would be affirmative... under condition that she take the bodyguards with her and both girls were armed at all times. This time was no different.

At one point after eating, a lizard hurried by and Tokaku followed it with a gaze that was too intense for a small child such as herself, and Hitsugi smiled down at her before patting her head and taking Tokaku's set of training knives out of the basket, happy only with the way her sister's eyes lit up at the offer.

"See if you can hit it" Hitsugi dared playfully, knowing full well that she _would_ impale the unsuspecting thing. Tokaku's aim was honestly frightening at times, something that hinted a bright future in the vampire military even in times of peace.

The little girl quickly strapped the pouch belt around her waist, resting on her lower back, and shot out of the blanket they'd been having lunch on, her demeanor changing from excited to calculating in the blink of an eye as she crouched with her eyes fixated upon her prey. Her hands took a knife each and she handled them expertly, bright blue following the lizard's path in search of a pattern.

A swift sound of metal cutting through air was heard, along with a thump when the first knife buried its tip against the tree the lizard had been climbing. The prey's movements had no chance of altering, as a second knife quickly followed and buried close to the first.

Tokaku jogged forward and stood in the tips of her toes, a satisfied smile on her face as she carefully gathered the dead animal on a handkerchief to bring it to her sister.

"Look, ane-ue!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Only two this time, and I hit twice!"

"You're getting better" praised the teen vampire, looking at the lizard in her sister's cupped hands. "Keep up the good work, Tokaku."

The girl smiled brightly and nodded, before jogging away to retrieve her knives and clean off the blood in them and her hands. Hitsugi looked at the lizard in front of her one last time before closing the cloth, sure that her grandmother would be interested with this.

The first knife grazed the thing's neck. The second went right through its spine. Not bad for a little girl, that's for sure.

"Are you sure you should encourage your brother to attack living things?" asked a voice from behind her.

Hitsugi smiled and answered without turning around nor bothering to correct about her sister's gender. "Who knows? So long as no one gets truly hurt, I see no reason to forbid such practices. Moreover, should _you_ be telling people how to raise their siblings, stranger?"

The newcomer came into her range of vision, and she did a double take.

[_From the moment I first saw you  
><em>_Things began to go into disarray_]

The stranger was a young woman who looked to be around eighteen years, probably nineteen, with short red hair pulled back and warm red eyes, dressed in dark blue hakama, and gave off an odd aura that could've fooled Hitsugi into thinking her a man had it not been for the clearly femenine chest. Given that she hadn't recognized her, she could only guess she was neither vampire, human servant nor lycan slave.

"Maybe not" she admitted. "But it concerns me when I see young children playing with dangerous weapons."

"Oh?" Hitsugi tilted her head. "You must be new to the area, then. It is more common to see a child fighting than playing around here... although many of them see these practises as games. Thus my lack of concern."

"I see. I forgot this town was caught in the crossfire of the last war. I understand now why no one here seems to care, but I must admit I am still concerned. Children should not prepare for war."

"_Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum_" said Hitsugi smoothly, gaining a surprised look she paid no heed to. Tokaku was now busy trying to get her knife through a butterfly, under the watchful eye of the (hidden) bodyguards, and she smiled at her sister's frustration when the small thing moved in the last second. "It is never farfetched to prepare for the worst, stranger. Some people have more need of it than others."

"And you would be of those in need?" asked the woman.

Hitsugi smiled at her. "Would you like to take a seat?" she offered, without answering.

The woman raised an eyebrow, but composed herself quickly and accepted graciously. "My name is Chitaru. Pleased to meet you" she introduced herself, tending her hand out.

The Crown Princess smiled and took the other's hand, tensing for a moment when a sudden breeze allowed her to take a good sniff at her smell. Ah, so this was a lycan. A free one at that. It would be a very bad idea to say who she truly was, then, for the very high risk of her being of the rebel group.

"I'm Hitsugi. Likewise."

[_That day I followed the wrong path_]

That was the moment Tokaku chose to return to the shade of the tree, a knife still in hand and a wide grin as she presented her new prize: a dead butterfly with the upper part of its left wing gone and its head chopped off.

"Ane-ue, I did it. Sixth try" she announced breathlessly, plopping down at her other side (being, of course, careful not to wrinkle her hakama too much). She gave a look to the stranger with her sister and immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Tokaku, meet Chitaru-san. Chitaru-san, this is my younger _sister"_ she introduced, emphasising the femenine. The lycan was not the first to mistake the child as a boy, but it was always such an amusing sight when they stared at the second princess of the vampires with impossibly wide eyes... "Tokaku, why don't you put the knife away and I will give you some tea?"

The girl's eyes lit up as she forgot all about the red-haired woman in favor of the promised beverage. She was quick to stuff the blade back inside her pouch and the butterfly in another handkerchief to show her grandmother later, bouncing in place until her sister placed a small cup with ginger tea in her hands with a slight scolding to stay quiet (not that the cold tea could possibly hurt her, but grandmother would be extremely displeased if she stained her clothes for her lack of ability to stay still _again)._

"Would you like some too, Chitaru-san?" she asked, still with her smile on though alert to every movement. Only because this woman didn't seem like the kind to attack outright, she was not about to get her guard down. Especially now that Tokaku was so close to her.

"I'm alright, thank you."

Hitsugi gave her a polite nod, smile unwavering, and turned her head to her sister. Her hand subconsciously rose to get Tokaku's hair in place, receiving a scrunched up nose in response.

"Ane-ue" complained the little girl. Hitsugi was sure she would've squirmed away had it not been for the cup of cold tea in her hands.

The older vampire smiled endearingly, and the lycan couldn't help a smile towards the sisters.

That was the first of a series of meetings, along the following two years, that led to the doom of Crown Princess Hitsugi of Azuma.


	3. Interlude: A Lycan's Hate

**Disclaimer: The only thing that has changed since the last update is that I have finished with my first year of college. Yay. I swear I haven't slept this well in _months._  
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><p><em><strong>Of Chitaru's reasons to crave revenge.<strong>_

Interlude: A Lycan's Hate

If there was something that Chitaru would never forget about the night she lost it all, it was the fear. Over ten years had passed since then, and she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but she still felt the fear deep in her bones. Maybe one day she'd forget the screams, the fire, the cruel laughter, the blood, the pain, but the fear would never leave.

Fear was something you had to get used to when you were a free lycan. Hide amongst humans, surround yourself by your kindred in a lycan settlement, live in solitude somewhere secluded, nothing could get rid of the fear. Vampires were ruthless, cruel and bloodthirsty, and they sometimes got out of their way to kill lycans for fun. The only thing better about humans was that there was no way for them to tell what you were, and that they weren't such big threats, but even a human could be dangerous these days.

After all, it had been a human the one to rat the Namatame settlement out to the forces of Empress Karami of Azuma. The same human whose life they had saved months before.

Chitaru didn't really remember the human anymore. If she tried to recall, she could only remember his hair had been a somewhat dark color, maybe blue or black, and that he had been of pale skin and gentle smile. He'd been liked by all children in the few weeks he was there recovering, but Chitaru had been small enough at the time that she was almost always with her mother.

The danger of humans, it seemed, didn't rely on brute strenght as in the lycans' case, or in experience and deceptiveness as was the vampires'. No, the cause of the danger they represented was much more simple than any of that: they were literal middle ground between both races. You could never be sure if a human was loyal to vampires or preferred lycans, because even a declared affiliation could be turned around in a second.

With the Empire's power and lycans' weakness, however, many more humans were deciding their loyalties to the vampires early on their lives. And that wasn't good for the lycans.

But they had found hope, in the figure of the newest rebel cell. The Namatame settlement had been one of the last ones not joining the resistance, as they had been somewhat pacific, but that had clearly been a mistake.

Probably.

Chitaru, last of the old settlement, was sure that sooner or later they would've been attacked, and not even the resistance was strong enough to fight off the vampire armies yet. It was a work in progress, one that she ended up joining two years after the massacre, when an old lycan found her and brought her home. The woman had been a member of the resistance, and Chitaru followed the path of her adoptive family without much thought.

Chitaru was fifteen when she was finally made a full member of the organization. And even though she'd been wishing to just join and help fight for their kindred's freedom, she wanted to be out as soon as she was in.

It had been her adoptive sister's death what put her in the ranks, after all. Every vacancy was filled as soon as possible, most of the times by relatives recently of age. So, it fell to Chitaru the responsibility to take over her sister's duties in the resistance. That also meant moving to another town when they asked her to a few years later, despite such a thing meaning that she had to leave the place she'd called home for a little over eleven years, where she had learnt to be happy again after surviving the massacre, and the place where her adoptive mother lived and her sister and father were buried.

But after moving to the human town caught in the crossfire, she knew she not only feared or despised the vampires: she hated them and wanted them all _dead._ And if she ever saw one of the faces she did remember, she'd kill them. For her birth parents and her unborn brother, for her adoptive family, for all the enslaved lycans, for the future generations. For the small, happy child she considered a younger sister and the girl's real older sister, so that they wouldn't have to know war.

The attack against her settlement was still deeply ingrated in her memory. It began with dusk, the setting sun behind the vampire forces as they marched into the small village with bloodlust in their eyes and one banner representing them all. Guiding the group were a bored-looking blond man with brass bladed knuckles and a purple-haired woman with twin machetes in her hands and madness in her gaze.

The screams began when the woman in front of the group rushed forward, cackling with delight, and swiftly cut off Chitaru's father's head. She still remembers the glint in the golden eyes as the woman raised her head and looked directly at her, past all the lycans in between and the starting fight, but a call from the blond man distracted the woman long enough for Chitaru's mother to hide her – _again._ She ended up beneath the wolf statue in the square, eyes shut tightly and hands pressed against her ears as she tried to muffle the screams and the laughs, small body trembling and tears falling down her cheeks.

The massacre could've lasted an eternity, but in truth it was only a few hours. When the noise subsided and the vampires finally left, Chitaru hesitantly opened her eyes to a sight that would've made her sick as an adult but scarred her four-years-old self for life.

All buildings were on fire, with no exception, and the many trees spread around the village were no more. There were bodies everywhere, all of them lycans, all of them proof of vicious brutality. It was dawn, and the rising sun highlighted the ground covered in blood and the many horrors done to her kindred. The smell of burning flesh was still strong, as had been since it all started, and it was only logical that small Chitaru emptied her stomach next to the wolf's front legs.

The statue was the only thing still standing in the village, though splattered with blood and gore. And there was one thing that stood complete, clean and proud amongst the chaos: the _vexillum_ brought by the vampires, its silver crossbar embedded in the wolf's back and glinting under the morning sunlight, mockingly displaying the vampires' dominance over the lycans.

The only thing that was registered by her mind at the moment was a deep red in the cloth, and yet, when she joined the resistance and was shown the different standards used by the vampires, she instantly recognized the one that pierced the wolf's back.

The red she remembered hadn't been because of the bloody landscape playing tricks on her mind, nor blood stains on the cloth. No, it had been part of an infamous standard: a double-headed phoenix occupying a field of a hellishly maroon tincture with a black band across the top. Even being shown it in its full form (that is, on top of the united standards of four clans), she immediately recognized it. How could she not, having had such a sight burnt in her memory for as long as she could remember?

As soon as she got over her shock and pointed to the golden bird, explaining that it was the one used by the vampires who attacked the Namatame settlement, she was met with grim faces and quiet exclamations of wonder at her survival.

The attack had been made by the forces of the current Imperial House. Only theirs, and at least two different clans, she was told, judging by the fact that the only standard present in the assault had been the double-headed phoenix (called the 'Mightiest Phoenix' by the vampires, which seemed rather presumptuous in her opinion).

That day, she swore to get revenge against the Imperial House of Kuzunoha and destroy it one vampire at a time, one family at a time, until each of its four clans were completely gone.

That standard would be permanently ingrained in her memory from the morning after the massacre to her very last breath.

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><p><strong>As my quick investigations have told me (could be wrong somewhere), the meaning of what has been told of the Kuzunoha standard is roughly as it follows:<strong>

**Maroon: patient and victorious in battle**

**Black: constancy, grief**

**Chief (band across the top): domination of will**

**Gold: generosity**

**Phoenix: rebirth, resurrection, one is created from the ruins of another**

**Double-headed: authority or dominance over two different realms (East and West, church and state, etc)**


	4. The Azuma Clan: part II

**I'm horrible. My internet's worse. Whatever.**

**Longer chapter because. This one ends Hitsugi's arc.**

**Disclaimer: Why on Earth would anyone believe that _I_ could own Akuma no Riddle is beyond me. Everything else in here, sans lyrics (once again, courtesy of chirigirl13, except the line about poison that I don't remember where it came from) _is_ mine.**

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><p><em><strong>Of Hitsugi's confession, Chitaru's reaction and Tokaku's first kill.<strong>_

The Azuma Clan: part II

Hitsugi of Azuma didn't mean to fall in love. Really, she didn't. She had early on her life understood that her future wasn't something she could choose freely, but only with her House's and the Empire's best interests at heart (in that order), and so she'd been letting herself be courted by dozens of noblemen since the day after she turned a hundred and sixty years, waiting until someone proved himself good enough to be her husband, support her as she ruled over the Empire and father her successor in the throne.

That was until she met the lycan named Chitaru, whose gentleness towards her and her younger sister seemed so out of place in a world ruled by war that she felt inevitably attracted, knowing that if her feelings evolved it could only end in tragedy.

[_Even still, I met you, and so_  
><em>The world changed into something comforting<em>]

She took her sister to the town time and time again, always hoping to meet Chitaru and nearly every time seeing her wishes granted. Eventually, even Tokaku stopped being so wary around the one she'd identified as a lycan by the end of the first meeting, as she could see her older sister wasn't worried, and her inherent cuteness made Chitaru herself completely relax around the pair.

All in all, everything seemed to be going smoothly, even if the redhead had absolutely no clue that the sisters were vampires.

And then it happened. Chitaru finally told her, one time that Tokaku was sparring with an older boy by the lake, that she was a lycan. That show of trust alone was enough for the Crown Princess' heart to beat so fast she was sure it'd jump out of her ribcage, and made her understand the source of the warm, strange feeling that made home in her chest whenever she crossed gazes with the younger female or their hands touched briefly.

Nearly two years after their first meeting, two months after finding the nobleman worthy of being her husband and a week after first accepting his advances, Hitsugi of Azuma understood she was in love.

She simply smiled at the redhead, answered that she didn't care she was a lycan and called her little sister (who had just beaten the boy's pride to the ground) to eat.

And she truly didn't care. At least, not until they got closer than before and Chitaru showed her the tattoo in her heel that proved her allegiance to the rebel faction. Because, at that moment, Hitsugi had to smile as she screamed inside.

With Chitaru being a member of the lycan resistance and Hitsugi being part of the vampire royalty (and a _very_ important one, at that), there was simply no way any honest relationship between them could be possible. Not with the hate that shone in Chitaru's eyes every time she heard any allusion to the vampire race, and especially not with her past.

When she heard about the reason behind Chitaru's hate, Hitsugi felt like crying out in grief, recognizing the story before it started with only the name of the attacked settlement. She had always felt so proud of being a daughter of the Imperial House, but now... now, there was only shame.

For a moment, she only wished to have been born anywhere else, as anyone else other than who she was... But then her little sister came running up to her, whining that she was thirsty, and she couldn't imagine a life not being Tokaku's big sister.

Had it been up to Hitsugi, Chitaru would have never found out about her. But that was simply no fair to the younger female, for the vampire to be leading her on _knowing_ nothing would come out of it. Because yes, she had noticed that the redhead was attracted to her, and she felt so damn guilty about everything...

And eventually, Chitaru knew. The setting was, admittedly, rather horrible. And it was the one reason things turned out the way they did.

[_That day I followed the wrong path_]

That day, they were on the same park as the first time they'd met, their favorite place to meet as it allowed a calm ambient for them while Tokaku played around and they talked about everything and nothing. It was nothing new, to meet in that spot, even though they'd sometimes been in the town itself (especially the few times Tokaku remained in the Imperial Palace).

The sun was setting, making the lake glint as if it was one polished diamond, as Tokaku threw rocks and exclaimed happily every time she made it skip a few times. It was really easy to please the child, as the lycan had found out when only a promise to teach her kendo about fifteen months back made those bright blue eyes light up in excitement. Which was understandable, considering the lack of titles awaiting her for when she grew up (only a Regency for their clan after their grandmother's death, and even that she could decide not to accept if she decided to dedicate her life to the military). She wasn't waiting for anything big in her life, and the smallest things could make her happy.

After Tokaku's sudden need for them to watch as she got the rock to the middle of the lake vanished, Chitaru found her eyes drifting to the young woman at her side, marvelling in the way the fading sunlight and her perenne love for her sister made her eyes twinkle warmly, loving the tiny smile that etched her thin lips as the little girl did something funny, the way her slim fingers put some of her hair behind her ear, the other rising to politely hide a laugh as the girl miscalculated and stepped into the water. Without knowing what was going on with her own body, Chitaru found herself leaning closer to the smaller female.

Hitsugi turned her head to look at her and froze for a moment that seemed eternal before she also leaned in, though the redhead didn't realize this as she was too busy paying attention to Hitsugi's face.

But then, only five centimeters before their lips touched, Hitsugi halted. Four later, she raised her hand and gently pushed the lycan away.

"I can't do this" she said, averting her eyes under Chitaru's confused gaze.

"I'm sorry, Hitsugi-san. I don't know what I was thinking. I just–" she sucked in a breath and messed with her hair. "Sorry. I'll leave now... and I'll understand if you never want to see me again. Just say the word."

The smaller female's grip was surprisingly strong as her hand shot out to grab her wrist before she could even begin to stand up.

"It's not you, believe me, it's just..." she looked away, not seeing when the other glanced at her. "I want to. I really do. But I... it can't happen. I'm sorry."

"Why not?" asked Chitaru, looking so much like a kicked puppy it was fortunate Hitsugi wasn't looking in her direction. Still, her emotions reflected in her voice, and the princess contained a grimace.

Hitsugi cursed in her mind, wishing to swallow her words, but there was no way out. Especially after she made the mistake of glancing at the lycan. "I... I have been betrothed. It is to be announced formally next week" at Chitaru's betrayed look, she quickly explained, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that told her this would end very badly. To all three of them. "It's... a political thing. The throne line is traditionally required to–"

"... Throne line?" interrupted Chitaru in a weak voice, hand slowly returning to her lap. "I... I don't understand."

Hitsugi looked down at her hands, a frustrated cry from her sister the only thing keeping her mind with her. Well, she had to break things off anyway, and this was just too good a way to make sure she would move on. Even if that slip of the tongue had been completely involuntary amidst the out of character rambling.

[_Now, the truth shows itself_]

"I don't believe I ever talked about my family, did I?" Hitsugi managed a small, shaky smile, and joined her hands in her lap to keep herself from playing with her hair as she normally did when she was nervous.

"You've mentioned them, but..."

The older female took a deep breath and straightened her back even more. "I'm Crown Princess Hitsugi of Azuma, daughter of Crown Princess Karami of Azuma and Archduke Daisuke of Inukai, and granddaughter of Empress Karami of Azuma" she took another deep breath, forcing her eyes away from the lycan as she noticed with pain the betrayal making itself more and more evident with every word spoken. "I am the heiress to the Azuma Clan and the Imperial House of Kuzunoha, as well as the niece of Duke Eisuke of Inukai and Duchess Manami of Inukai... the commanders of the vampire troop tasked to destroy the lycan settlement of Namatame fifteen years ago."

At that, her voice broke, and Chitaru choked simply because of all the emotions conflicting within her heart, forcing the air out of her chest.

(It suddenly made so much sense to the lycan, that the sisters hadn't seemed to change since she'd met them, which was weirder for Tokaku than it was for Hitsugi. It wasn't that she hadn't noticed because she'd seen them very often, but because _they had not changed_. How had she, a lycan specialized in reconnaissance, failed to notice she'd been seeing vampires for more than two years? How had she missed the (now obvious) signs?

[_You laughed innocently, like an angel_  
><em>But suddenly it was as if you changed into a devil<em>]

She couldn't believe it... It had to be a dream. A nightmare. They were both so cute and sweet– they couldn't be part of _them_.)

Hitsugi felt more than heard her love's reaction, and knew she had to get out of there before she started crying.

She needed to get her sister to safety... she wouldn't put it past Chitaru to attack them right there and then, nor to try and kill a child (even if Tokaku was technically older than the redhead, and Chitaru knew that now). And by the way Chitaru's face was contorting with many emotions at once... This place was no longer safe. Why on earth had she thought it'd be a good idea to ask the bodyguards to stay a little bit farther? There was no way they'd arrive in time if a conflict arose, and she didn't have any confidence whatsoever in her fighting skills– she was a _poison_ mistress for a reason, damn it...

She _had_ to get Tokaku out of there.

With her decision firmly in mind, the vampire stood up and gathered the picnic basket before walking towards her sister.

"Tokaku?" she called. "We're leaving, please put the rocks away."

"But ane-ue, I still don't get any to the other side..."

"You can do it other time, Tokaku. We need to leave."

Maybe it was because of the tense air, or something on her face, or the way her voice sounded so strained, but Tokaku immediately stopped complaining and bounced up to her sister. Hitsugi kneeled in front of her and, under the guise of straightening her hakama, slipped a pair of real deal knives into her clothing, receiving a surprised look from the younger girl. But then she glanced behind her, and something seemed to click.

"What do you want me to do, ane-ue?" she asked in a low voice, suddenly serious.

It wasn't the first time she was handed knives, and they were always accompanied by some kind of instruction. That this time the blades were deadly sharp only pointed that this was important, not a practice anymore.

Hitsugi's gaze darkened. "If you are attacked, retaliate with deadly force. Do not hesitate."

Tokaku's expression was once again that of a confused and honestly lost little kid. "I thought you loved each other."

The older sister managed a gentle smile, but the younger still caught the pain in her eyes. "She knows who we are now."

That was all the blue-haired vampire needed to understand the reasoning behind the newest instruction, and she nodded once to show it. Even being a child in her people's eyes, she was still old enough to understand what was going on: with the lycan being aware of their nature, there was no telling if the feelings she'd developed for her sister would remain the same, nor if they would stop her thirst for vengueance.

Hitsugi stood up, brushing her sister's hair back into place, and extended her hand. Tokaku took it, looking up at her with worry, and they started their journey back to safety.

They would never make it, though.

They had only walked a few steps when they heard a cry behind them. Hitsugi's golden gaze took on a panicked glint, and she turned around to see the lycan rushing at them knife in hand. She cursed under her breath.

"Run, Tokaku!" she instructed, letting go of her sister's hand and whirling the basket at the approaching lycan. It hit, but she knew even before throwing it that it wouldn't be much help. "Now!"

The child hesitated, looking between her sister and the lycan, and took a step back, away from them.

"TOKAKU!"

"ANE-UE!"

Hitsugi looked back to the front, eyes widening as she saw how close was the redheaded woman, gaze following the arms until she got to the trembling hands around the leather-covered grip, and to the cross guard directly in contact with her body. She felt something warm falling down the corner of her lip, and she coughed blood.

Chitaru looked panicked.

"Hitsugi..."

The older woman's eyes were red slits on black field now, the kind that showed when a vampire was the most dangerous, something that no lycan had seen for almost a century now (only the less deadly variants instead). They held Chitaru's wide eyes calmly, as if she knew the outcome of everything and she was fine with it.

"Leave, Tokaku" she said, voice calm and commanding.

"Ane-ue..." whimpered the little girl.

Chitaru couldn't bring herself to look away from the frightening gaze of the girl (_vampire_) she'd thought she loved, and so she couldn't see Tokaku taking another step back with tears falling down her face and eyes reflecting all the sadness and betrayal of the world, nor the corners of Hitsugi's lips quirking up with the bitterness of someone amused at a cruel irony.

Hitsugi held Chitaru's upper arms with a tight grip, and she broke eye contact. The lycan didn't realize what was happening until she felt Hitsugi's breath on her neck, followed by sharp fangs grazing her skin. It didn't take a genius to know what was going to happen, but she was too shocked (at Hitsugi's true nature, the current situation, her own actions) to panic.

"There is a special kind of poison that we, the pure vampires, carry but rarely use" she whispered against Chitaru's ear, her breath warm. "It is essentially what turns humans into impure vampires, but–" she coughed again, and the lycan felt something warm trickling down her neck. "You are not a human, Chitaru-san."

Then, Chitaru screamed. She screamed long and loud, pained and surprised, all her senses focused on the fangs piercing through skin and flesh until they reached her vein, something wet pressing against her skin just before _something_ started entering her system through the fangs, slowly mixing with her blood and carrying an agonizing pain all through her body.

The volume of her screams intensified.

She was much too conscious of the fangs retreating, and the blood that followed just before the vampire licked the wound with cold gentleness, her saliva instantly closing it and ensuring the poison remained inside to pump its way through the rest of the body.

"Goodbye, Chitaru-san."

True to the rumours, the poison was quick, and immediately she felt so weak she fell to her knees, dragging Hitsugi down with her (or was it the situation? She couldn't be sure). But Hitsugi's fall didn't limit to that, and soon she was on her back with Chitaru's blade buried deep in her chest. Golden eyes searched around until they rested on her sister's still paralyzed form, and her lips formed a gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, Tokaku" she whispered, before closing her eyes.

For a minute, the strong wind was the only thing either of them could hear, along with the weakening heartbeat of the Crown Princess of the vampires. Both had their eyes locked on the still figure, both frozen in shock at the recent events and tears slowly falling down their cheeks.

Somewhere in the distance, echoed the first rumbling thunder. When the rumble was no more, neither was the heartbeat.

"Ane-ue..."

That word broke the silence, and Chitaru flinched both because of the pain caused by the poison and the pain in the childish whimper of the girl who was younger yet had been born before her.

Reddish eyes slowly tore away from the corpse and moved to the younger sister of the one she'd just killed. Tokaku was on her knees, eyes wide and locked on her sister's body, tears streaming down her cheeks and face contorted in pain.

Chitaru flinched again.

When the first raindrop touched Tokaku's head, something seemed to snap inside her and she shot to her feet, hatred taking over the pain in her features. The lycan was then reminded that the sisters were younger to the vampires than she was to the other races, and so it was likely they'd never done anything wrong. Especially Tokaku, who was only a _child_.

Was it alright to kill innocents, even if they would some day be as guilty as the relatives whose faults were charged upon them?

When the vampire held the lycan's gaze with her own, Chitaru's rear met the ground as she felt a sudden rush of fear.

The normally happy bright blue eyes were now a menacing red in black, cold and unforgiving, hateful and betrayed. Eyes that once showed trust, now glinted with the kind of brightness that was normally reserved to someone you knew would stab you in the back the second you turned it to them because they had already done so before.

Another short scream left Chitaru's lips, both from the poison and the pain of knowing herself the cause of such a change.

Tokaku brought her hands into her clothes, and retrieved the knives her sister had given her.

It was evident that she had no intention of obeying her sister's last instructions. Which was no surprise, really, considering that the Imperial House of Kuzunoha had a reputation of being extremely vengueful. That this part of their character had lost importance in the face of their bloodlust was clearly a mistake on their enemies' part.

Chitaru felt incredibly weak now, enough that even staying seated demanded an impossible amount of energy from her. But she wanted, _needed_ to get away from the child that was slowly pulling the knives out of their scabbards.

Not for fear of her life, but Tokaku's.

There was something about lycans that the girl clearly ignored or wasn't paying any mind to, and it was something that would probably get her killed if she acted on her apparent intentions.

But when the blue-haired girl leaned forward as if to rush in her direction, the lycan knew everything was over now. Because she could feel her poisoned blood beginning to boil, the only advance notice a lycan had that their primary nature, the one that differenced them from humans and vampires, would soon gain control of their bodies in a last desperate attempt to save their lives.

Then Tokaku took a step forward, and Chitaru felt her body explode.

The change wasn't instantaneous, but it was very quick. And when Tokaku's knife was through Chitaru's shoulder, it wasn't a human shoulder, but the equivalent of the wolf form.

The lycan yelped and twisted away, taking the vampire's blade in the process and forcing the smaller female to take a few steps back. The daughter of the Imperial House of Kuzunoha didn't bother taking a look at her injured arm, and instead took a step to the right and kneeled to gently tear the knife off her sister's chest, wiping off the blood with a handful of grass with her eyes still on the lycan that was trying to use its muzzle to get the blade off its shoulder.

"She loved you" said the vampire, not realizing her voice came out steady and sure, cold even. The lycan whimpered, giving up on its attempts to get rid of the weapon, and the vampire's eyes blazed with hatred. "Yes, you stupid mutt, she loved you. She loved you, and you killed her."

The red-furred beast whimpered again and took a step back. There was denial in its eyes, and it trembled with some emotion the vampire couldn't quite bring herself to care about. She knew she was hurting her oponent with only words, and that it'd die anyways thanks to her sister's last move, but only words wouldn't have been enough.

Tokaku of Azuma needed to feel the mutt's blood in her hands before letting her sister rest in peace. She needed to avenge Hitsugi of Azuma as viciously as possible, to honour her sister's memory and the traditions of the Imperial House of Kuzunoha.

Chitaru would die by her hands, _not_ her sister's poison.

And even though she knew she had to make things quick to be sure it would be her the one ending Chitaru's life, she had enough time to slip a few cutting remarks here and there.

That filthy lycan had to _suffer_ for what she did to her sister.

"Ane-ue knew from the start you were a lycan" she said bitterly, advancing towards her target. "She knew, and she didn't care. She came to love you even though she knew what you were from the very start."

"_I loved her!_" resonated the lycan's voice through the clearing.

"You loved the idea of a human her!" yelled Tokaku, tears resuming their fall. "Had you truly loved her, you wouldn't have cared that she was a vampire! You wouldn't have killed her when she told you!"

The new Crown Princess took another step forward, one knife absently twisting until she was holding its blade, ready to throw it at the cowering beast. For a moment, Tokaku thought she could see regret in its eyes, that it hadn't intended for things to happen like that. For a moment, she wanted to just yell at it, get rid of her sister's poison and abandon the lycan while she left with her sister's corpse to give it proper burial, but she promptly shook it off.

The beast in front of her wasn't the lycan she'd come to love as a sister. It was a treacherous _thing_, the responsible of her sister's death, the one who'd turned against them as soon as she knew of their nature.

Tokaku couldn't allow herself to be weak. Not right now.

"The Hitsugi you met _was_ the same as Hitsugi of Azuma. The way she acted here was the same as she acted behind closed doors, when she didn't have to follow all the etiquette and could just relax."

Tokaku palmed the knife, knowing for the blade's shape that it was the one given to her by her sister, and pondered on the best place to bury it so the silver would hurt more than normal without actually killing it instantly. She hadn't studied on lycans yet, but from what she could see the shoulder wasn't that good of a choice. The back, maybe? Or would it be better the stomach? The base of its spine? That place between its shoulders? Its muzzle? That seemed like a good idea.

"Tell me something before I kill you" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Had you known from the start she was a vampire, what would have you done? Would you have killed us on the spot? Or would you have wormed your way in to gain her trust, so she could introduce you to some of our relatives? Maybe some of our cousins? I heard that lycans like to take revenge on the relatives of those they see as guilty. Especially the ones that can't defend themselves. Is that true? Because, you know, many of us don't have a hundred years yet. That makes us... ten at most? You lycans kill children?"

"_That's not true!_"

"Oh? But ane-ue was a hundred and sixty-three when you killed her. And she didn't exactly enjoy getting her hands dirty. I think she preferred politics and other such subtle movements. She would've been an excellent Empress... except for the little detail that, you know, she's _dead_."

"_I didn't want for things to end like this_" whimpered the lycan. "_I loved her, I swear._"

"And yet you killed her. You know, I'm worried for your enemies. If you could do that to the one you claim to love, what if you had my cousin Otoya, daughter of the co-commander of the attack against the Namatame settlement, in front of you? She's about six, in your terms."

"_I don't kill innocents! I just– I haven't killed anyone!_"

"Except my sister, of course. Did I mention that she'd never killed anyone? Or that she wouldn't _have_ killed anyone unless _really_ pushed?"

The lycan whimpered and stepped back. It stopped suddenly, with a wail of pain, as the silver knife with the crest of the Imperial House of Kuzunoha somehow got vertically through its muzzle from top to bottom. The vampire pretended a sympathetic grimace.

"Ouch, that must hurt. Hey, just out of curiosity, is it true that silver can cauterize a wound in a lycan? You know, since it burns and all."

Chitaru didn't answer.

"Oh, well, have it your way."

In a blur of movement, Tokaku was in front of the lycan, slashing with its knife at its front legs. She formed a deep gash in one, probably to the bone if the sound was any indication, but she was violently pushed back before she could complete her assault. Tokaku faintly registered the pain in her left upper arm, and resisted the urge to look.

Hadn't it been for the situation, her grandmother would've scolded her later for having her clothes torn up when she returned home. As it was, no one would care about the state of Tokaku's clothing when she returned to the palace. There'd be more pressing matters.

The vampire wiped at her mouth, idly noticing she must've bitten herself in a moment of carelessness, and frowned thoughtfully in the direction of the cowering lycan. It was limping backwards, dragging its injured leg and moving its head from side to side as if trying to keep itself from opening its mouth.

But there were the three good knives. Thankfully, she'd fallen near the picnic basket, which had opened when Hitsugi threw it, and the training pouch was peeking out of it. It wouldn't be as effective as the three blades buried in the lycan's body, but they would still help.

Plus, she was more familiar to them than to the three she'd used.

Chitaru was closer to the basket than Tokaku, but the redhead was injured so it was unlikely it'd get there before the vampire. It was worth a shot.

The girl rushed forward, startling her oponent, grabbed the pouch and rolled away, narrowly escaping a bite that was followed by a pained howl.

When Tokaku looked at the lycan again, she found it with its muzzle half-opened, tears falling down its cheeks.

"_I didn't want it to end like this, Tokaku!_" it yelled with a howl-like tone. "_I wasn't thinking! I'd take it back if I could, but I can't!_"

"And what do you expect me to do?!" shouted the young vampire. "To let you live?! No way in hell you're leaving this place alive after you killed my sister!"

Chitaru was crying too, and not only because of the pain caused by the knives in her body. They say guilt is one of the most dangerous things in the world, and now she was experiencing it for the first time in her life. She'd never regretted anything before in her life, and she would die regretting her last minutes.

She could feel a sharp pain that wasn't related to Hitsugi's poison, but to her worst action ever and its horrible consequences. Instead of being consumming and maddening, the poison running through her veins provided an odd sort of relief, a distraction from her guilt.

[_Even the poison that eats away at me is sweet_]

Tokaku tied the pouch around her waist without taking her eyes full of hate away from the lycan, but always conscious of her sister's body just a little off ways. She had to keep clear of there, else the body would sustain some kind of damage, and she was _not_ in the mood to clean mutt's blood off anything, much less the corpse of the one she was trying to avenge.

With ease gained from practice, the vampire took four knives out of the pouch and held their blades between the fingers of her right hand. She had limited resources, and it wasn't safe for a child to get that close to a grown transformed lycan as she had personally checked. Though, if the mutt couldn't open its muzzle, and it had one leg practically useless...

She was going to win. She knew it. There was no other possible outcome.

That knowledge gave her an odd feeling, mixture of pride and despair.

Tokaku exhaled through her nose and narrowed her eyes, calculating her next hit and clearing her mind of all other thoughts. The blades in her pouch were common steel with thin veins of silver near the edges, made for practice but also as emergency weapons if any vampire in training were to cross paths with an hostile lycan. Not as effective as the pure silver blades of the twin knives her sister had given her, but they would still hurt. And if she played it right... she could made the lycan suffer – _a lot_.

The legs were good choices. It'd hinder its movement even further, as it had one blade in its shoulder and another in the opposite leg, and that would make it easier and safer for her to get closer. There was the risk of the lycan dodging, but she wasn't that worried about the possibility: she had, after all, killed a butterfly flying seven meters away from her with only six training knives two years ago (the day she met Chitaru, but she was _not_ going to think about that); aiming at the legs of a wounded lycan three meters away was a piece of cake.

She could do this.

And she did. The first knife buried somewhere between the elbow and front paw of the leg with the injured shoulder, causing the lycan to fall muzzle first, disrupting the silver knife and eliciting another howl of pain. The second knife found the base of the spine and the third the left back hock. The lycan was, with that, rendered virtually unable to stand or crawl. A fourth blade to the back made sure it wouldn't be able to roll.

Tokaku took one calming breath and relaxed her posture as she pulled one more knife out of her pouch. She walked forward and kneeled by the lycan's back, pressing her left knee against its neck with enough force to disrupt its already difficult breathing. The knife in her hand met the only uninjured leg with vicious strenght.

"_Tokaku!_" howled the lycan through its whimpers.

"Shut it" grumbled the girl, tearing her sister's silver knife off its leg. She made a face at the flesh and skin that came with the blade, ignoring the howl that was loud enough to make her ears hurt. "Uh, so it was true that it cauterizes" she mumbled, taking another knife from the pouch to clean the silver blade with it.

"_Tokaku, please!_"

"I told you, I don't care. You killed my sister. Be thankful I'm the one killing you– the House would make your life hell" Tokaku eyed the knife with disinterest. "I'm doing you a favor, really."

Before the lycan could plead mercy again, the Crown Princess buried her training knife handle-deep into her prey's stomach and _twisted_. The subsequent howl almost left her deaf.

"There is a tradition of vampires" she started talking again, as she took another training knife while contemplating where to put it. "It might be older than the second dynasty, although no one really cares when it was born. It's... a little like a tradition of the humans that call themselves Japanese, I think. There is a night every few years, when there is only one red moon in the starless sky, when we gather to pray to our ancestors" she slammed the knife through what she hoped to be some internal organ, although she wasn't sure. "We pray for their eternal rest and thank them for what they have left for us, ask for their blessings for the children who are living their first red moon so they have long and honorable lives, and raise one wish each, the most impossibly desperate wish in our hearts."

She was quiet for a moment, remembering the past red moon and tracing her finger along the edge of the silver knife. Each celebration was grand and luxurious when it came to the dead, and solemn when it came to the living. The dead deserved all the riches in the world for helping their people become what they were, and the living needed to remember that the material things were left behind when they departed from this world.

Her sister's favorite weapons, the twin blades that had been a gift from their grandmother to their parents for their wedding, had been left behind. It was almost a given that it would've been one of the only things her sister would've taken with her to the afterlife if she'd been able to.

"The last one was two months ago, a little after you told her about your... allegiances" she continued. "Her wish..." her breath caught in her throat, her sight blurred, and she faintly heard the familiar footsteps of her uncle, rushing in her direction with two more vampires as company. She had to hurry.

Somewhere in the distance, she thought she heard her uncle yell her name, followed by her sister's.

The sister that would never, ever look at her with those impossibly gentle golden eyes of hers again. The sister she had loved so dearly, her most precious person, her protector, confidant, best friend, favorite teacher, personal teddy bear and cuddle companion and anti-nightmare lullaby-singer and...

The sister who had fallen for a lycan, knowing it could only end in tragedy.

She who had poisoned the one she loved to save her.

"Her wish was to be with you, for you to love her despite being a vampire..." she chocked on a sob, and angrily wiped away the tears that didn't let her see. It was useless.

She hadn't understood the enormous implications of her sister's wish at the time, and she hadn't dared asking because she wasn't even supposed to have heard in the first place. A vampire's most impossibly desperate wish was something intimate, and overhearing one wasn't polite under any circumstances (she hadn't _meant_ to, honest, but she'd been so close that she had accidentally heard).

But now she could understand the words muttered by Hitsugi of Azuma in her last red moon. She had only wanted for the lycan to be able to see past her race, past her name, and look only at _her_. She had wanted Chitaru to see her for who she was, instead of her family.

Had she been ashamed of being a daughter of the Kuzunoha? Of being the Crown Princess? Had she been ashamed of their family, their uncle and aunt who'd led an army against a settlement, their impure uncle who'd directed them there in the first place?

Had her wish included not being Tokaku's older sister?

[_The past, the present, the future, all of it_  
><em>If only we could stuff it into a box and burn it all<em>]

Forcing herself to clear her mind of such doubts (as they distracted her from her goal, and distraction in battle could be fatal), Tokaku of Azuma raised the silver knife that had belonged to her sister and many Azuma before her, not really seeing where she was pointing but feeling it with the confidence of a true weapons master. She knew where was her target... and she was going to _destroy_ it.

"YOU WERE HER WISH!"

With one last, angry, wordless cry, she brought the knife down with all the strenght her small forty-three-years-old body could muster, piercing through skin and flesh and bone until her blade rested just through the madly beating heart of the lycan responsible of her sister's death.

When Chitaru's last howl vanished, cut short by the knife through her heart, an equally desperate, heart-breaking cry tore through Tokaku's throat as tears streamed down her face and she screamed her pain to the heavens above.

That day, three hearts were torn apart. So it was decreed by Fate.

[_Souls seek out one another_  
><em>That was probably what ours did<em>]

* * *

><p><strong>I don't remember if I've said this before, but just in case: if anything doesn't make any sense to you, be it the way I write (a word, my grammar) or simply something about the story itself, please do point it out. So long it's worded politely, I won't mind and even welcome your input.<strong>

**Now, I don't like to do this, but please let me know what you think?**

**As mentioned above, this chapter ends Hitsugi's arc. Next up: Isuke.**


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